She Will Be Loved
by TKDP
Summary: "In order to prove your allegiance to the Opposition, I'll have to permanently remove your powers." Skylar sighed, back to square one again. Would she ever have her powers for good? Would some villain always sweep in and steal them from her? And can a certain someone remind her that, as long as they're around, 'she will be loved?


**Hey guys! Well, I can't be the only one who thinks Home Sweet Home is THE BEST EPISODE OF ELITE FORCE IN THE HISTORY OF ELITE FORCE! (Starts coughing) Hehe…where'd that come from? Never mind. Anyway, I loved Home Sweet Home! My god, Skylar and Oliver are almost an item! Actually, I decided to write this as a sequel to Little Talks for more than just that reason.**

 **Here's the happy reason: Home Sweet Home parallels Rise of Five so much! Both are important (the first episode and the first one-hour episode), both have much to do with powers, and both have a potential crisis for Skylar that never becomes realized. Wait, whaaaat? You may be thinking 'TKD, you're crazy on that last one. What DIDN'T Home Sweet Home have?!' Well, I'll explain that in the bottom A/N so I don't spoil the story. Anyway, I decided to take the opportunity to make a story very similar to Little Talks revolving around an unrealized crisis I'm sure you'll enjoy reading about.**

 **Sadly, here's the not-so-happy reason: I'm sure some of you know I submitted Little Talks into a writing contest, and was one of the winners (about 200 people entered, I think 30 won.) Well, at the big 'story reading event' I wasn't one of the people listed to read my story. Don't get me wrong, I have nothing against not having enough time to have everyone read. What made me angry was they didn't recognize me. They didn't give me a gift like everyone else. They didn't even say my name. It was like I was totally invisible (I sympathize with ya, Molly). I doubt the other readers even knew why I was there. I've been hiding my feelings, but I'm actually quite sad. Not so much anymore, but I was really upset a few hours ago. But I hid it, as usual. Anyway, my story didn't get honored, despite winning against college students and other writers. While that might sound vain, I think I deserve recognition. So, I celebrated my accomplishment the one way I could think of: writing this sequel.**

 **This one-shot is based on the song 'She Will Be Loved: by Maroon 5'. Just so you know, much like Little Talks, this story is purely dialogue driven with lots of romance. There's no action, so if you don't like that, don't read the story. Spoiler warning now, this story has a LOT of spoilers for Home Sweet Home, so if you haven't seen the episode, why're you reading this story?! Drop the computer and GO WATCH HOME SWEET HOME!**

 _"_ _What's it gonna be?" "Give it up! She's not joining the Opposition!" "Actually, I am." "What?" "It's a small price to pay for saving your lives." "But Skylar-" "I made up my mind, Oliver. This is what I have to do. I'm ready to join you." "Good choice. But before I let you out, I need to know you're serious." "I gave you my word, isn't that enough?" "No. In order to prove your allegiance to the Opposition, I'll have to permanently remove your powers to create space portals." "What? But then I'd never be able to go back to Earth!" "You can't do that!" "Are you with us or not?" "Do whatever you have to do." "We'll never see you again." "I know…go ahead."_

Oliver walked downstairs into the kitchen, a bright smile on his face. How could he sleep at a time like this when such great things had happened today? Skylar said she _liked_ him. She'd _kissed_ him. And now they were 'almost an item now'. That was legitimate, right?

Oliver didn't care that it was night, his smile could light the room. After the android-girlfriends came after him, he was finally able to go out on the terrace to talk to Skylar. Even if she wasn't ready to be in a real relationship, he was still overjoyed. After all, Oliver had waited this long, he could wait a little longer.

Oliver was about to pour himself a glass of water, when he saw someone move on the couch. "Uh, hello?" asked Oliver.

"Oh, h-hey Oliver," said a voice, weakly.

"Skylar?" asked Oliver, turning on the lights. Sure enough, Skylar was sitting on the couch with a gloomy expression on her face. He felt like a dark cloud had descended upon his sunny demeanor, seeing her like this. "What are you doing here…in the dark?"

"Uh, nothing," Skylar said, but even she seemed to realize how stupid that sounded. "What're you doing up?"

"I could ask you the same question," Oliver stated, before pausing. He was getting a strange sense of déjà vu.

She sighed. "Can't sleep."

Oliver put down his glass and came over to sit beside his 'almost-girlfriend'. He hesitated for a moment, then put his arm around her, hoping she wouldn't shove his arm away. She didn't seem to have the strength to, anyway.

Skylar had drawn her legs up to her chest, and wrapped her arms around them. Amongst the large pillows on the couch, if she tucked her head into her knees it would be difficult to notice her at all. Skylar was still wearing her 'Opposition' clothes, making Oliver wonder if she even attempted to fall asleep in the beginning. To avoid looking at the translucent outfit, he looked into her eyes, surprised to see pure pain.

"S-Skylar, is there anything wrong?" Oliver stuttered, trying to piece together what would make her upset. She was safe; back in the penthouse; with all her friends alive, surrounding her.

"I know a lot happened, but Oliver, do you remember what transpired in the subterranean cells?" She said this so quietly, Oliver could barely hear her.

"Um, you said you liked me?" he guessed. Oliver quickly scolded himself, that sounded creepy, and he couldn't act so creepy if he didn't want to scare Skylar away.

Skylar just smiled, however, as though she expected him to say that. "Don't tell me that's why you're sad," Oliver said in a small voice, hoping and praying that she wasn't rethinking her statement.

"No, I was actually thinking of something else," Skylar stated, quickly. "But I don't blame you, no one really seemed to remember when we got back. Even I forgot for a while, until I…I tried to superspeed upstairs to change…"

"Oh." The thought hadn't occurred to him, there was just something about being dangled over a molten lava pit that caused you to forget the pressing issues. "Don't worry, Chase got your powers back once, I'm sure he can do it again." Oliver hated to mention Chase bringing back Skylar's powers, but he decided to swallow his pride if it meant Skylar feeling better.

Skylar shook her head. "No, Scarlett said she had to _permanently_ remove my powers."

"Yeah, well, the Annihilator probably thought your powers would be permanently remov-"

"No," Skylar cut him off. "The Annihilator just took my powers. Sure, he didn't want me to have them back, but he knew that if I got the powers from him, I'd have my powers again. This is different."

"Well…what if you got…bionics?" Oliver asked, tentatively.

Skylar gave him a sad smile. "It's like I said before, I want _my_ powers. Not just any powers handed to me. Plus, who's to say my body even supports bionics? It could be dangerous…"

"But you never let danger get you down," Oliver said. "Not even when you didn't have powers before. You always kept trying, and even if you failed you got up and tried again. It's what I admired most about you."

"Really?" asked Skylar.

"Really," said Oliver, taking her hand. He was surprised she didn't pull away. "Not to mention, Bree officially has superpowers, and if she can be a hero, you can _certainly_ be a bionic."

Skylar chuckled. It was true, Bree never seemed like a 'superpowers' type of girl.

Oliver grinned, glad to see she was laughing. His happiness at cheering her up, however, was shadowed by the guilt of forgetting something so important. While he was focusing on himself, she probably felt like her world was crashing down. He wondered how long she'd been in her cell, alone, worrying about just that…

Oliver was pulled out of his thoughts when he heard Skylar give a disgusted grunt. She was holding a piece of her outfit, as though she was noticing it for the first time. "Ugh, I can't believe I'm still wearing this…"

"I know," said Oliver. "It looks like someone sewed a pair of nylon stockings and a trash bag together." Upon Skylar's surprised look, Oliver covered his mouth. _Probably_ should've kept that thought to himself…

Luckily, he was surprised to find her chuckle softly. "You're kind of right," she murmured, through giggles. She then sighed, as though she just now remembered what they were talking about. "Now I guess I'm back to wondering what the team will do with me, now that I don't have powers anymore."

Oliver's eyes widened, and he suddenly realized why the conversation felt so familiar. The conversation was beginning to sound like the talk they had the night before she got her powers back. That was the night she had worried Oliver and Kaz would leave her behind because of their powers. That was also the night that made him hope they could become closer, only to have his hope torn out by Chase the next morning. A part of him wished there was some way to go back and tell his past-self everything would be okay, and that Chase was too busy building android-girlfriends to even _notice_ Skylar.

Oliver took a breath, finally knowing how to answer her question.

"Skylar, I'm never going to let you out of my life. Neither will Bree, I can tell you that for sure," Oliver began. "Skylar…do you remember what I said, right before I-uh-almost killed you, when Chase got your powers back?"

Skylar quirked an eyebrow, feeling a spike of annoyance at the mention of that particular moment. Oliver took a deep breath, feeling almost embarrassed to tell her this. Oh well, he'd already said so many strange things to her, he shouldn't be embarrassed to say something genuinely romantic. Actually, maybe that's what made him so nervous…"Well, you probably don't remember since you were already almost dead. Anyway, I told Chase not to kill you because…well…I can't imagine a life without you. You're the reason I wake up in the morning, and…I guess I already told you this, but you mean everything to me."

Skylar couldn't help but bring a hand to her mouth, shocked and genuinely touched by his words. She decided she'd have to return to the 'Chase killing her' part later, for now she was left speechless. "O-Oliver," she choked out. "Thank you. That's…that's really sweet." She couldn't find the words to describe how she felt. Maybe her thoughts were more straight-forward then their last 'little talk', but Oliver still managed to make all the negative thoughts disappear.

"I just hate seeing you so upset," Oliver said. "You've gone through so much regarding your powers, and you deserve to just have them as a constant in your life. I wish I could give you some of my powers…"

"That's okay, Oliver," Skylar said. "Really, you're already making me feel better."

"My word's still good, you know."

"What do you mean?"

"I said I'd do everything I can to help you get your powers back," continued Oliver. "That deal didn't change. Even though you had your powers, turned evil, lost them, and had them again, I'm still keeping my promise. I'd do anything to help you be proud of yourself again."

Even though he was bringing up some sore topics, Skylar felt oddly soothed by his words. The night began to catch up to her again, and she soon leaned her head on Oliver's shoulder.

"Skylar?" Oliver asked.

"Yeah?" she murmured.

"Whether or not you have powers, you'll always be a hero to me." He then turned to look at Skylar, only to find that she'd fallen fast asleep.

 **Update: It was brought to my attention that Skylar uses her powers throughout the episode, and Scarlett only took her ability to use Space Portals. I'm terribly sorry, that was MY mistake. Here's the thing, though, you need to get where I'm coming from. I watched the clip, Scarlett says 'I need to permanently remove your powers to create space portals'. Of all things, this is BAD grammar. I took this as 'I need to permanently remove your powers so that they can be used to open space portals', or something. If Scarlett wanted to communicate that she was taking ONE of Skylar's powers, she should have said 'I need to permanently remove your POWER to create Space Portals.' NOT powerS! And the reason Skylar used her powers to take down Scarlett afterwards that I didn't mention…I'M AN IDIOT, OKAY?! XD! I can't even say I'm kidding because I really am one! XD! Oh well, this story is still cute and romantic, so think of it as an AU.**

 **Like I promised, here's the 'unrealized crisis' I mentioned in the upper A/N: Skylar lost her powers and NO ONE SAID ANYTHING ABOUT THAT! Dang, I understand Chase wanting to know where Bree got her superpowers from, but they should've also mentioned what they're gonna do to help Skylar! I doubt they can just do the same thing they did in Power Play. I hope, like, REALLY hope the writers didn't get stupid and forget she lost her powers. If Skylar has her powers in the next episode, I'm gonna scream. Like, seriously. I'm really torn on this 'Skylar power problem' thing. On the one hand, it's starting to get repetitive. On the other hand, every episode like that has to do with Skylar, and you know how much I love Skylar. I also usually end up liking the episode (cough, not Power Play, cough!) I just hope Oliver gets to bring back Skylar's powers this time (if she gets her powers back) to even out the score. Anyway, more info about the story: This story has the same amount of words (not counting the A/N) as Little Talks. This story is also written in the same style, with an unnamed dialogue regarding which part of 'Home Sweet Home' I'm referring to, followed by a story revolving around that part.**


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